A nutritionist has been told by her regulators to remove the section of her social media post urging people to boycott Israeli dates .

The nutritionist, who was a member of the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) and of The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) ,  had posted a recipe for stuffed dates on her Facebook page, which advertises her business.   However, she had added the proviso to the recipe “Please boycott Israeli dates – if you can find Zaytoun, buy these as they support farmers in Palestine”.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) wrote to BANT and CNHC because the nutritionist had apparently breached both organisations’ codes  of conduct.

The BANT regulator has informed UKLFI that it will be “reinforcing the professional standards of BANT and the CNHC in our communication with her and requesting that she removes this section of her post.”

By urging people to boycott Israeli dates, the nutritionist was showing that she was not putting patients’ interests first, instead she is putting her own interests first.  Furthermore, she was not offering advice based on any nutritional basis.

UKLFI’s letter to CNHC pointed out that she had failed to be “sensitive to cultural differences” and to “promote equality” in accordance with their regulations.

UKLFI also showed that the nutritionist had potentially breached Section 29 (3) of the Equality Act 2010 (the Act) by harassing her Jewish, Israeli or Zionist clients by creating an intimidating, and offensive environment for them by commanding her clients to boycott Israeli dates.

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI pointed out “We are pleased that the regulatory bodies for nutritionists are tackling the issue of boycotts,  and appear to be cracking down on any members who advocate boycotting Israeli food or other items, putting their own political interests before those of their clients and patients.”